Monday, July 6, 2009

New England Preview

BrewLocal's first road trip couldn't have been more fun or productive. The state of New England's beer culture is strong, unpretentious and growing organically, one honest pint at a time.

We had an awesome brew day at Mayflower Brewing Company in Plymouth, MA with head brewer and beer obsessive Matthew Steinberg which produced some great photos, a long format interview and a video tour.

Later that night, we met up with diamond geezer Dann Paquette and his lovely and charming wife Martha, who collectively create some of the most singular and inspired beers around under the Pretty Things imprint for a leisurely interview. We were regaled with their exploits over glasses of "Jack D'Or" and "Confounded Mister Sisyphus" on the back deck of Deep Ellum, where Aaron Sanders, Max Toste and Josh Velazquez author the smartest beer list in town.

The following morning we were off to brew with David Wollner, head brewer/owner/hop savant at Willimantic Brewing Company in Willimantic, CT. We recorded another long format interview, shot video and a bunch of photos, and riffed on the Three Stooges.

We wrapped up the trip with a stop at the rightly infamous Julio's in Westboro, MA where among other rarities we procured 5 different funky, barrel aged offerings from Cascade Brewing in Portland, OR (no idea through what chicanery they got those bottles that are fuel enough for a BrewLocal trip to the Great Northwest (We'll see)).

We've catalogued some great recipes this trip as well. There are some definite trends we're seeing: Sierra Nevada worship, a surprising fondness for dry yeast, session beers, barrel aging, collaboration and camaraderie. We're gonna start editing content (there will be plenty) and posting soon (in between full time jobs and all of the other daily distractions).

Big thanks to our New England brew crew and to our readers for your support.